Frog Kissing
by jelazakazone
Summary: Merlin gains magical powers after being struck by lightning. Notes: This started out as a birthday present to Beeej and then morphed into a modern AU. I got the idea to start out with Merlin not having magic due to a suggestion from lewisian gneiss to write a fic with Merlin with no magic. I am pretty sure the frog is the fault of dunderklumpen.


Author's Notes: Thanks to writingcafe members for help with specific plot points and to ella_bane for thinking up pocket!Kilgharrah and encouraging me to have fun with it. Big shoutout to kleinefee92 and castmeaway for beta help and thinking through several plot points.

Crash! The ground shook with the force of the thunder; electricity sparkled in the air, raising the hair on their arms and then Merlin dropped to the ground, out cold. Although they were an arm's length away from the gate, Arthur could barely make it out the rain was coming down so hard. Without a thought, he threw Merlin over his shoulder and raced for the entry.

"Gaius! Now!"

Just around the bend and he was at Gaius's lab. Water dripped from the men and pooled on the floor unnoticed by Arthur.

"Gaius? Will he be ok?"

"Set him here. Let me look."

Gaius's gentle caring hands tended Merlin, taking stock of his state.

"His breathing is regular. Hmmm, pupils are even. I think he'll be ok. Let's start by getting him out of these clothes."

Arthur helped tug the wet clothing off which revealed a mark down Merlin's arm left by the lightning. Gaius found a change of clothes for Merlin and drove them home.

"You warm him up and he'll be just fine."

The men snuggled under warm covers.

"Thank you Arthur. I don't think I'd have survived if you hadn't been there to see to my care."

Arthur just lowered his lips to the mark left by the lightning.

Merlin swam up to consciousness from his dream slowly. As he floated in that liminal space, memories drifted past. He remembered that it had been pouring last night and that he and Arthur had gotten soaked despite being close to the lab when the heavens had opened up. Then he remembered snuggling with Arthur and his arm being sore. Damn it, his arm was sore. With a start, he was fully awake.

"Mphrgh!"

"Merlin?" Arthur yawned and stretched out his arm, patting the bed next to him. Finding only sheet, he too was instantly alert. "What's wrong? Bad dream?"

"My arm! I can't use my arm. I won't be able to mix concoctions for Gaius or do your laundry or cook supper."

"Merlin. Calm down. Gaius said you'd be just fine."

"Ack! Look at my arm! It's got this - this- mark. I'm disfigured."

Arthur peppered kisses on Merlin, starting at his fingertips and working his way up, slowly. The mark started at the top of the deltoid and then fractured its way down his arm, stretching over the top of his hand to end just below his fingernail.

"Mer-lin," Arthur said in a husky tone, "this _mark_is bloody sexy."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Only you would say that." He tugged his hand away. "You can appreciate my scar later. If I don't get the supplies to Gaius before he gets to his lab, he'll have me cleaning the leech tank and you know I'd rather change the oil on your car than do that!"

Arthur looked at Merlin with longing.

"Arthur! Really. I've got to go." Merlin muttered as he rummaged around on the floor to find clean clothes. Moments later, he raced out the door, shirt tails flapping loose under his jacket.

Disheveled from his bike ride, he arrived at the lab. It nearly resembled a spaceship - almost everything in it was state of the art, from the work surfaces and cupboards to the computers. There was even an automated climate system in the ceiling and walls for the plants they were growing. However, Gaius would not relinquish his medieval artifacts (he claimed they were tools) that had been handed down for generations. There were several mortars with their accompanying pestles and lumpy flasks that required hand cut corks for stoppers and even an old mask that had no practical use except to recall ages long past. So, they did their work the old fashioned way and reaped the rewards as evidenced by the grant money that rolled in, allowing Gaius to outfit the lab with state of the art equipment.

"Well, Merlin. I can only assume you've recovered from your shock last night. I had not expected to see you today."

Merlin kicked himself mentally and wished he'd listened to Arthur. He figured he was here now though and may as well help Gaius. If he went back to bed now, the work would just pile up and be waiting tomorrow.

"Um yeah. I'm feeling fine today. Well, except my arm." He stuck out his arm exposing his illustrated skin.

"I saw that last night. Nothing to worry about, I think. Now, let's get started on this potion with wolfsbane. You've brought fresh herbs with you?"

Merlin settled in to the familiar work on the stainless steel table, comforted by the herbal scents and the sight of bottles of preserved greens.

Gaius was known as one of the pre-eminent botanists in the country and Merlin felt privileged to have earned a spot as his only doctoral student. He loved the variety that came with working in the lab. Some days they were crushing herbs by hand. Other days they were out in the field getting dirt under their fingernails while they gently lifted seedlings out of the earth. Then there were the days spent in front of the computer screen modeling growth or trying to predict interactions between various substances. Merlin loved it all, especially the scents.

His arm had started out pretty sore, but after mixing, stirring, and crushing the various herbs and minerals, he seemed to have worked out most of the tightness. When they stopped for lunch, he couldn't keep his left hand off the mark.

"Is your arm still bothering you?"

"Hunh?" Merlin massaged his arm. "Oh, not really. I've got this tingling feeling in it, but it's feeling much better."

"Good lad. You'll probably be cured by dinnertime. I've got plenty more manual labor for you."

Merlin tried not to moan out loud.

By the time Merlin left, the sky was turning a deep purple. At least the sky was clear. Merlin shivered anew at the thought of last night's storm as he unlocked his bike. He hopped on the bike and enjoyed a leisurely ride home. It was Friday, after all, and while there was no such thing as a real weekend for a grad student, at least the lab was closed. Gaius rarely had projects that needed observation on that level.

Merlin smelled something as he approached the front door to the ramshackle house he and Arthur shared with a few other students, but he couldn't quite place it. Smoke billowed out as he opened the door.

"Arthur!" Merlin coughed. "Are you ok? What are you doing, you bloody fool?"

Arthur was waving his hand vigorously, trying to clear the kitchen of smoke. He gave Merlin a sheepish look and looked down before saying, "I, um, you said this morning that your arm was too sore to cook supper, so I took matters into my own hands."

"Arthur, I appreciate the gesture, but we both know that I can cook better with one arm than you can with two. Your talents with food tend towards the ordering and eating side of things." Merlin coughed again. "What were you trying to cook, anyway?"

Arthur gestured at something black and lumpy on the stove. "Tuna pasta bake?"

The physical labor of the day settled in to Merlin's bones and he realized he was exhausted. And hungry. Faced with inedible tuna bake and his partner's defeated expression, all he could manage was to laugh. A small giggle slipped out, ballooning into hysterical laughter. Gulping for breath, Merlin reached out for Arthur to ground himself and got a little shock for his effort.

Arthur leaned in for a kiss; Merlin was too tired to resist.

"Mmmm. Thanks for trying to make dinner. I'm too hungry to try to come up with something new right now. Let's walk down to the take away place and go eat in the park instead. My treat."

"All right. I know when I've been defeated." Arthur pinched fabric between his fingers and winced as he brought it up to his nose. "Let me change and we can get unburnt food. Maybe you want to call ahead? Order me that chicken curry, would you?"

Merlin pulled his mobile out of his pocket and looked through his contacts for the right number as Arthur bounded up the stairs to their room. Moments later, a freshened Arthur slipped his hand into Merlin's and they walked down the street, dinner just moments away.

By the time they had settled onto the grass in the park, the sky was full dark. Merlin and Arthur dipped chopsticks into containers indiscriminately, enjoying the meal and the setting. Merlin jabbed his chopsticks excitedly from time to time as different birds came by; Arthur smiled at the descriptions of the beautiful creatures. Finally, they emptied the containers and satiated their hunger.

Merlin lolled on the grass, long legs stretched out in front of his lean body. "Mmmm, that was much better than burnt tuna pasta bake."

Arthur snuggled up next to him. "You have the best ideas."

With a gleam in his eye, Merlin extended his hand. "I've got another idea. Let's get home."

They collected their trash, chucking it in the bin on the way out of the park. Liberated hands found each other again, fingers twined together. The walk home was completed in companionable silence.

As they mounted the stairs to their bedroom, Merlin could have sworn he felt his arm tingling again, but put it down to sheer exhaustion at this point.

"Hey, Merlin, do you mind if I check my email for just a minute? I am working on a group project and waiting for Gwaine to finish up his part."

"Sure. No hurry. I'll see if Gaius has anything I need to do this weekend, even though he told me I would be free. He has a bad habit of forgetting experiments he set up a week or more ago."

Merlin checked his email, finding nothing from Gaius, to his relief, and one from Will that was content free, but full of ridiculous pictures of kittens in bizarre situations. Smiling, he turned the computer off and stretched his arms in front of him. As he stretched and wiggled his fingers in front of him, he felt that tingling in his arm again, but this time it was much more insistent - like an electrical current that originated at the base of the lightning tattoo and traveled down his arm through his fingertips to …

A warm hand on his shoulder startled him and again, Merlin discounted the tingling in his arm. He turned into Arthur's warm embrace, snogging him thoroughly before tugging him down onto the bed.

Merlin wasn't sure if it was birds chirping, his aching arm, or the frog on his face that woke him up. He sat up abruptly, spilling the frog into his lap who looked up at him and croaked plaintively. Merlin whipped his head around looking for Arthur who'd gone missing. Merlin's heart beat wildly, as if it were trying escape his ribcage. He swallowed, a dry lump forming in his throat.

"Arthur?" he croaked.

Their bedroom door was still locked. Merlin put his hand on the bed, feeling the sheets where Arthur had clearly spent the night. It was still warm. He looked back down at the frog who was still looking at him. His mind churned as if the gears in his mind were rusted shut. _What had happened?_

He remembered having an awesome dream where he was Gandalf. He'd thrust his arm forward and turned a warrior who'd been wielding one of those long ass swords at _him_ into a frog. _Wait. Rewind. He'd turned a warrior into a FROG_.

Merlin gaped at the frog in his lap. "Arthur?"

"Meep." The frog blinked blue eyes, accusingly, it seemed.

Merlin looked at the frog, completely bewildered. "I don't know what I did. I don't know how to turn you back! I don't think I can just search this problem on Google."

Merlin grabbed his mobile and called Gaius, desperately trying to keep a lid on his growing panic. "I've got an emergency, can you meet me in the lab?" He pulled trousers on and haphazardly grabbed a few things to fling into his satchel. Then he looked at the frog - Arthur - and put a flannel shirt in for cushioning. Slinging the bag across his body, he flew down the stairs, grabbed his bike from the porch, and mounted it before it had touched the yard.

Dashing through traffic, Merlin arrived at the lab in record time and before Gaius. He let himself in, immediately took Arthur out and placed him on the nearest uncluttered workspace. Merlin paced until Gaius arrived.

"All right, Merlin. What's the problem? One of our specimens having problems?"

"Oh, Gaius. You won't believe this. _I_don't believe this and it's happening to me." All he could do was point to Arthur.

Gaius looked confused. "I'm sorry, Merlin. I don't understand. You'll have to explain it to me. What happened?"

"That's Arthur!"

"What? It couldn't be? No!"

Merlin nodded.

Gaius stroked his beard. "Well, maybe we should try some of the concoctions we've got here. We could start with, hmmmm, let me think … toadstool pie."

Merlin felt comforted by Gaius. If anyone could solve this problem, it would be Gaius.

First they tried toadstool pie, but as soon as they placed the mixture near Arthur, he hopped away from it as though it were poison. Next came turtle stew followed by a whole catalogue of tinctures that did a variety of things to the frog from turning him blue to giving him warts to making him burp like a rugby player. Alas, none of the potions restored him to his human shape.

"Merlin," Gaius said thoughtfully, "perhaps we need some more facts." He patted a stool. "Come, sit. Tell me what happened."

Too agitated to sit, Merlin waved away the invitation. "Gauis, I told you everything I know. I was having this nightmare that I was being attacked by a warrior, I put my hand out like I was Gandalf, and turned the guy into a frog, except somehow I turned Arthur into a frog. It wasn't a dream at all." Turning to Arthur he said, "Oh, Arthur, I'm so sorry. We'll figure something out. Soon." Tears dripped on the frog's face, but even that didn't seem to be the cure.

Gaius shrugged. "Well, you could always try the fairy tale cure."

Curious, Merlin motioned for Gaius to continue.

"You know. You kiss the frog."

"Really, Gauis? How the hell is that supposed to work? Just poof, he'll turn into a prince? Yeah, right."

"Well, what have you got to lose?"

Merlin shrugged, picked up the frog, and looked him right in the eyes. "Arthur, I swear to god, if this is a prank, I'm going to kill you." He closed his eyes, brought the frog to his lips, and lay a gentle kiss on the frog's head.

"Ribbit."

Merlin's eyes snapped open, his mouth worked for a moment before words came out. "Arthur?"

"Ribbit." The frog looked at him placidly. Gaius, on the other hand, burst out laughing. Merlin glared.

"This isn't Arthur, is it?"

Gaius hung his head, trying to be ashamed. "Well, no. It's Aredian."

"Gaius!"

Holding back a chuckle, Gaius held out another frog. Merlin peered at it, looking closely to check that this one had _blue_eyes. Taking no chances, he kept his eyes open this time and planted a chaste kiss squarely on the frogs lips - or where he thought the lips would be if frogs really had lips.

In front of him, a disoriented Arthur sat crumpled on the floor. "What?!" he sputtered as he looked up at the men.

Merlin slumped with relief and folded himself onto the floor to sit in front of Arthur. He raised Arthur's hands and kissed them. Arthur still looked completely bewildered.

"Why are we sitting on the floor in your lab?

Merlin and Gaius laughed simultaneously. Arthur just glared.

"Come on. It's been a long day. Let's go home. I'll cook your favorite dinner. I'll just need to stop in the market for saffron and ginger. Do you want to ride my bike home or shall pedal ahead and meet you at home?"

Arthur grumbled, "Just go. Take your damn bike. You know I can't stand sitting on that skinny little seat you've got. I'll meet you at home."

An hour later, the aroma of chicken, onions, ginger and saffron wafted up to their bedroom where Arthur was on his laptop. Merlin appeared in the doorway. "Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. You hungry?"

Arthur snapped, "Of course, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten all day and Gwaine isn't answering my emails and I need his data for this project or we'll all fail the class."

Merlin held up his hands. "Whoa, Arthur, settle down. I'm sure Gwaine has a good reason that he hasn't replied to you."

"It had better be that his father has died because anything less is not acceptable."

"You know, sometimes you are a real jack ass." Merlin pointed his finger at Arthur as he said this and felt a jolt travel down his arm. He looked down at his finger and then snapped his head back up as he heard a bray. His mouth fell open. Arthur was still sitting on the bed, but he had the ears of a donkey and was now braying instead of talking.

Merlin's heart sank. He'd done something, but he hadn't had any control. He hadn't meant to turn Arthur into a were-donkey. He rushed over to the bed to console Arthur who had a doleful look on his face to go along with the sad braying.

"Shhh. Just. I know I did this. I can undo this." He petted Arthur's head and Arthur leaned down onto him. His long donkey ear brushed Merlin's nose and made him sneeze. A residual tickle made him wiggle his nose as he said, "I wish I could just undo it." As if he were Samantha from Bewitched , the spell was undone.

Arthur said, "You idiot. What the hell is going on?"

"I really really don't know, Arthur. You have to believe me." He shrugged. "I guess I must have some magic now? I mean, what other explanation could there be?"

Arthur sighed, defeated. "Yeah. I guess. Well, quit doing it!"

Merlin pulled a face. "Dinner's ready. Let's go eat. We'll both feel better."

Arthur's satisfied expression as he put the first bite of dinner in his mouth relieved Merlin - his shoulders relaxed and he sat back in his chair. He watched Arthur eat, rolling the tender meat and sauce in his mouth to savor the saffron, ginger, and mint. Arthur's stiffness could not withstand the dinner and was virtually banished by the time he wiped up the last bit of sauce with bread.

"There! That's better now. Want some ice cream?"

"Are you trying to make me fat, Merlin?"

Merlin eyed Arthur appraisingly, astonished that he could even suggest it might be a possibility. "How could you even think that? You are in fighting trim!"

Mollified, Arthur picked up his plates. "I know you cooked the dinner and I should clean up, but would you mind cleaning tonight?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm so behind on that damned project and I really need to make some headway."

Merlin felt guilty because he knew Arthur had lost a lot of time due to being a frog for almost a whole day, so he nodded in agreement. "But don't think you are going to get away with this every time, Arthur Pendragon."

As Merlin cleaned up from their dinner, he thought about the last day and wondered just what the hell had happened. It was pretty clear to him that he had magic, but he had no idea how to control it.

He mounted the stairs with leaden feet and a heavy heart. He was worried that Arthur was still in a snit about everything - the magic, his project, even the fucking weather, for all Merlin could tell. Cautiously he opened the door to discover that Arthur had packed an overnight bag. His heart sunk even lower.

"What?"

Arthur reached out to him, pulling him into a gentle hug. He smoothed Merlin's hair and held him close.

"I'm sorry. I know you are having a rough time right now, but I can't risk turning into an owl or something next and anyway, it's crunch time and Gwaine and I need to make the most of the next 24 hours before the project is due. I'm going over to his place so we can work undistracted."

Merlin nodded. "Text me when you're done," was all he could manage to say. Arthur's departure left a hole in Merlin's heart even though he wasn't gone for good. Merlin tried to tell himself that it wasn't forever and was probably for the best at the moment anyway even if all he wanted to do was hold onto Arthur and never let him go.

It was a little early to go to sleep yet, even for an early bird like him, so he grabbed his laptop and settled into bed with it. He checked his email and looked at the various blogs he liked to frequent before typing "lightning strike magic" into google. This turned out to be useless for his purposes; it only referred to games. He had known better, but was getting desperate. He thought that maybe Gaius would know something and sent him an email.

To: gaius  
From: merlin

Gaius,

Can we meet tomorrow to discuss that problem I had with Arthur? It happened again. Arthur's gone for the evening, so I think I'm fine until I see you next.

-M

Merlin had been nervous to mention the word magic and thought it better to be vague. Gaius never seemed to sleep and was surprisingly astute with new technology, so he had his answer within minutes.

To: merlin  
From: gaius

Of course I'm more than happy to meet with you in the lab.

-G

Merlin felt a wave of relief wash over him, although it didn't dissolve his tension entirely. He played Solitaire and found an old episode of QI to relax. Stephen Fry never failed to amuse, and, as luck would have it, Brian Cox was a welcome bit of eye candy. The familiar voices and repetitious movements soothed Merlin and he was able to close the laptop and drop off to sleep.

Restful sleep eluded Merlin. He tossed and turned, thrashed around under the covers, and even whimpered at times as he dreamed again of the thunderstorm and being struck by lightning. When he awoke the next morning, his arm was awash with pinpricks, as though tiny bees were stinging him. He wriggled lithe fingers, trying to work the feeling back to normal and then bit back a scream as a streak of pain shot down his arm and came out to ignite his bed covers. He swatted at the little fire and looked at aghast. This was getting out of control. He was glad Arthur hadn't spent the night with him after all.

Although it was earlier than he'd planned to leave, Merlin thought he could work in the lab until Gaius got there. There was always work to do in the lab. Filing at the very least. So, he pulled on his trousers, shrugged into a shirt and a pullover Arthur had left behind and grabbed his jacket. He stopped in the kitchen to stuff a toaster pastry and some fruit in his satchel knowing there would be milk and tea in the lab he could drink.

Arriving a little less disheveled this time, he set to boiling water and finding his favorite mug before he made the rounds to check on all the plants and the few animals they kept. He was on his second mug of English Breakfast tea when Gaius arrived.

Eyes wide with surprise, Gaius appraised Merlin. "Did you stick your finger in an electrical socket?"

"No. Why?"

"Have you looked at yourself today? I know you and a comb are strangers, but your hair is sticking out on end, Merlin."

Merlin sighed and gestured to a stool. "Please. Sit. Gaius, I'm afraid. I don't know what's going on. Obviously Arthur knows that I've got magic, but he doesn't realize how uncontrolled it is and it seems to be getting worse. I don't know who else I can turn to." Tears pooled in his eyes. He covered them with his long tea-warmed fingers.

Gaius reached out a hand, placing it on his shoulder. "There there. We'll get you sorted quickly enough. I've read about cases like this."

As Merlin looked up, his heart lifted a fraction. He knew he'd been right to trust Gaius.

It turned out that Gaius had read one article in The Enquirer, but there had been family stories handed down that talked about magic users.

"You must have had a predisposition to magic before the lightning struck and somehow the electricity traveling through your body activated it."

At this bit of information, Merlin put his head in his hands again.

"Gaius, that still doesn't tell me how to use it or control it. I can't keep my emotions flat all the time. I'd go crazy in no time, you know that."

"Yes, lad. I know."

Gaius got up and strode over to the locked cabinet where he kept all his ancestral tools. He rummaged through the mess for a few minutes before extracting a small leather-bound book which he held up triumphantly.

"Ha! Uncle Albert used to talk about this book. No one believed that it was actually a practical book, but as you know, we are loathe to get rid of any piece of the inheritance, but just look at it." Gaius was practically glowing as he held the book out. "The workmanship is exquisite. This tooled dragon is unparalleled."

Merlin reached for the book that Gauis proffered and the book disappeared to be replaced by a little dragon on the floor cocking a thick eyebrow at Merlin. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Merlin hiccoughed. A tinny voice reached his ears, "Merlin! You turn me back right now!" and tipped him over the edge. He sank to his knees, unable to control his laughter and wiped at his eyes.

"Merlin, get hold of yourself. You have magic. It is part of your heritage. Embrace it."

Merlin looked down at the dragon in astonishment. "What? I mean, how do you know that?"

"I am Kilgharrah, The Great Dragon. I was born millennia ago and was bound into this book by one of your ancestors."

"Sooo, magic is real, then?"

The dragon did not respond to this query.

"Okay, what have you done to Gaius?"

"Me? Nothing. It is you who has done something to him." Kilgharrah chuckled at this.

"Can you help me out here? What do you mean, one of my ancestors?"

"You are a dragonlord, Merlin, just as your ancestors were. Look inside yourself."

Merlin closed his eyes. He took in a deep cleansing breath and let it out slowly as he'd been doing in yoga. He continued to breath slowly and deeply as he focused on the environment. Green herbs flooded his senses first followed by the moisture of living plants. He sensed the metallic tang of the steel on the tip of his tongue and could have sworn his ears knew the plastic in the room from the sound. As he stretched his senses further than he'd ever done before, he understood that a new sense had come alive.

With his magic , he could sense the wood of the table legs that had once been alive, and the heartbeat of the animals in the room, and the breathing of the plants. He could even sense Gaius sharing the same body with the soul of Kilgharrah which weighed on him like a tombstone. In that instant, he knew what he had to do.

From the depths of his center, power spiralled up, bringing with it a voice and language he'd never used, but knew instinctively. Grið fæstne mid þisse tintregende sáwol. *

To Merlin's great relief, Gaius separated and reformed at the end of the phrase. "Gaius! I'm so glad to have you back in one piece."

"Me too, my boy. Although it was interesting to be in a dragon's body even it was small."

Merlin looked around for the wee dragon and was a little disappointed to see that the book was back. He leaned down to pick up the book, noticing that the dragon on the cover now moved. He thought he heard a chuckle, but dismissed it, assuming it was Gaius.

"Well," Gaius continued, "there is no question. You will need the book. Study it well."

A slight breeze ruffled Merlin's hair, tickling his scalp and face on his ride home. It brought scents of spring flowers, jasmine and crocus. As he breathed in the scented air, his arm tingled and then the tingling spread throughout his body. He followed it up his arm, through his torso, down to his groin and legs and toes and even up through his head and to his lips. Abuzz, he jumped lightly off his bike, hoping to find Arthur.

He was not disappointed. At the top of the stairs, Arthur appeared in the doorway and they both said, "I have something to tell you!"

Merlin said, "You first," as he sidled past Arthur into their room.

"Merlin!" Arthur reached out, excited, embracing him firmly. "Merlin, my team won! We earned the most money of all the teams." A smile split Arthur's face and Merlin felt his own lips curl in happy response. He pulled away enough to look Arthur in the eye and said, "I figured out how to control my magic. It's a long story, but the next time you end up with donkey ears, it won't be an accident."

* Bestow peace with this tortured soul. (possible meaning from archeaologist_d) (This was the spell Merlin used to send Lancelot out in the lake.)


End file.
